Dzantik'i Heeni playground advances to Assembly
- Jasz Garrett
- Aug 7, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 11, 2025
The playground is a priority for the mental and physical health of students, educators say
By Jasz Garrett
Juneau Independent
A playground for the Dzantik'i Heeni campus is set to swing before the Juneau Assembly for a decision.
On Wednesday, the Assembly Finance Committee unanimously advanced an ordinance appropriating $735,000 from general funds to the city manager for the project. The Assembly will consider the project at its meeting on Aug. 18. If approved, the site prep for the foundation can begin.
The total project cost is estimated to be $660,000, including the design and construction of a concrete path compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), new fencing, and safety surfacing for the pre-K and K-5 play equipment. Drainage is also needed for the field.
"I'm hopeful it will be done next year so that we can decorate it," Deedie Sorensen, president of the Juneau Board of Education, said.
If passed by the Assembly, the funds will still not cover the cost of playground equipment — JSD is expected to raise the funds. Estimates for the total cost of the project have varied based on its features, such as whether a swingset desired by school board members is included.
"The district is still and the community is still going to be on the hook for the playground equipment, but we can't go there or even think about that until there was some level of confidence that there would be the site prep," Sorensen said.
The playground is a priority for the Juneau School District. There are 220 K-6 students at the Dzantik'i Heeni campus, according to Superintendent Frank Hauser. Students from Juneau Montessori School, Juneau Community Charter School and Yaaḵoosgé Daakahídi Alternative High School are based at the campus, following the district's consolidation plan that went into effect last school year.
All other elementary schools, preschool to sixth grade, have a playground. But at Dzantik'i Heeni, "they have a field that turns into mud and an ice rink so that they are playing on the gravel path in front of the building during winter," Sorensen said.
Hauser said there are no public parks in the Lemon Creek area either.
"It will not only be a playground for the over 200 and some students that are elementary students — there's about 300 students projected at the Dzantik'i Heeni campus, K-12," he said. "But that is a playground not only for those students there, but for the whole community."
The finance committee's concurrence with the district on an option comes almost a year after the project was first announced. The playground was initially expected to break ground this year.
At a Dec. 2, 2024, Public Works and Facilities Committee meeting, the total project cost estimate was $1.8 million. At the same meeting, the committee instead recommended $575,000 for the playground.
At a March meeting, staff presented options ranging from $880,000 to $1.5 million. The playground was part of a proposed bond measure for the Oct. 7 municipal election that provided more than $10 million for JSD improvements, but the Assembly rejected the measure on July 28. At that meeting, Assembly Member Christine Woll directed the finance committee to consider providing $735,000 from general funds for the playground.
Deputy Mayor Greg Smith asked how to avoid raising expectations in the future.
"There are ways we can do better moving forward," he said.
City Manager Katie Koester recommended a decision be based on either a design concept or the funding available. She said the challenge with the Dzantik'i Heeni playground project was that no budget was set because the Assembly was unaware of the schools’ needs.
"This project needed a lot more expensive site prep than we were anticipating," Woll, chair of the finance committee, said.
• Contact Jasz Garrett at jasz@juneauindependent.com or (907) 723-9356.
